It has been recognized that in the case of certain types of wounds, particularly burns, it is desirable to ensure that the wound is exposed to the air to promote healing. At the same time, it is desirable to cover such wounds with bandages to prevent the wound from being dirtied and becoming infected.
Various devices for elevating bandages above a wound have been considered. U.S. Pat. No. 2,443,481 to Sene; U.S. Pat. No. 4,000,737 to Hora; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,159,021 to Casburn are exemplary. As well, Canadian patents No. 444,919 to Mathias and No. 1,050,845 to McCartney deal with this issue.
Of these references, the last to McCartney describes a lattice of criss-crossing support members, fastened by pins at their points of intersection and supported at the outer extremities along two sides on mounting pads. This grid of intersecting bars is said to be assembled in a scissors-like fashion. However, actual scissor-like movement is not possible in the configuration as depicted. At the borders of the grid McCartney shows two boundary members in the form of mounting pads into which the ends of the criss-crossing support members are shown to be attached. This attachment appears to be in the form of pins, rivets or screws, passing through circular holes.
By reason of geometric necessity, the grid of McCartney, particularly as depicted in FIG. 8, is not physically capable of being expanded and contracted. This is because attachment of the ends of the criss-crossing support members to the boundary member locks the lattice into a fixed configuration.
The present invention overcomes these deficiencies. It further enables a wound to be covered by an elevated bandage by a device which is fully adjustable in its lateral dimensions. These and further features of the invention will be apparent from the following disclosure.